Danal's WeChat Pay offline QR payment transaction volume hit a record high, boosted by an increase in Chinese tourists visiting South Korea.

Danal said on Tuesday that transaction volume for its WeChat Pay offline QR payment service in the first half of this year rose 62.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.

WeChat Pay offline QR payment is a service that allows Chinese tourists to pay at Danal merchants, including convenience stores, beauty shops and franchises in South Korea, through the application they used in China.

The company said WeChat Pay transaction volume expanded as more Chinese tourists visited South Korea and convenience store use increased.

Danal is expanding WeChat Pay payment locations from a focus on convenience stores and franchises to unmanned arcade stores. It recently signed affiliate contracts with unmanned stores such as gacha shops and plans to broaden payment locations to shopping, transportation and medical and wellness services.

It is also expanding its prepaid card business for foreign tourists. Danal launched the foreigner-only prepaid card K.ONDA in July and installed dedicated kiosks in major tourist commercial districts, including Gangnam, Myeongdong, Euljiro, Seongsu and Hongdae.

Transaction volume also rose for its tuition payment service for foreign students operated with Shinhan Bank. The year-on-year payment growth rate was tallied at 81.5 percent for WeChat Pay QR and 133.2 percent for PayPal. The WeChat Pay QR growth rate widened from 47.3 percent in 2025.

Danal added the Vietnamese simple payment service ZaloPay this year as a tuition payment method. Partner universities for its tuition payment service increased to 94 from 30 in 2023.

A Danal official said, "We will expand payment services for foreign tourists, students and workers so that they can use the payment methods they are familiar with in South Korea as well."